By: Tina Szyszkowski

Editor’s Note

Dear Faithful Readers,
We’re back! Hope everyone is getting back into the swing of things after returning from Minneapolis-St. Paul. Thank you again to our hosts and sponsors for making the 2017 Forum one to remember.

With the All-Star weekend behind us and all the recent roster moves, we thought it would be fitting to run an update story on the Cleveland Cavaliers and their augmented reality championship ring experience. The Cavs’ championship ring experience was a unique way to engage their fans and have them join in on the celebration. The Cavs enjoyed this process and are already thinking of other ways to leverage new technology to enhance the fan experience.

Hope you enjoy the update and be sure to tune into the rest of the NBA season!

P.S. – Don’t forget to stay engaged with us on social media! Follow @NatlSportsForum on Twitter and Instagram and like us on Facebook!

Sponsor’s Note

“Everything is about AR and VR in the sports industry right now so the Cavaliers are very timely and on point with this initiative. It’s great to see the continued trend of teams not afraid of technology, but, in fact, embracing it to provide an interactive fan experience.”

Program Title

Cleveland Cavaliers: AR Championship Ring

OBJECTIVES

After a hard-fought season, the Cleveland Cavaliers brought home the NBA Championship trophy last year for the first time and wanted to find a way to share this special experience with their fans. Through a unique collaboration with Nike, Baron Rings, and YinzCam, each fan that attended the season opener received a silicon ring that would activate a 3D, rotatable view of the physical Championship Ring through augmented reality. Their main goal was to provide a truly unique activation that would ultimately increase ring sales.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Cavaliers take pride in providing their fans with a creative user experience and challenged themselves to do something that had not been done before. During the ring ceremony, fans launched the Cavaliers’ app and placed their phones over the silicon bands with the expectation of receiving a 3D virtual view of the same ring being awarded to the players. However, due to some technical difficulties, not all the rings successfully activated. A few weeks later, the Cavs released the rings in a downloadable PDF form offering three different ring sizes. These paper rings activate an augmented reality championship ring-wearing experience for anyone who downloads the app. Simply print, cut, and tape – just like that, any Cavalier’s fan can enjoy the Championship Ring.

There are two different features available with the app. First, fans can snap a picture and share it through several social media platforms with the predefined hashtag “#WonForAll”. Second, by simply tapping on the image, it directly connects the user to the Cavaliers Championship Collection and enables them to purchase their own ring with just one click. This is the same purpose that the in-stadium silicone rings were intended to deliver, only now it is available to fans outside the stadium walls. By opening up the activation to anyone who downloads the app, it allowed the Cavs to target a larger amount of fans, increase exposure of the ring and their Championship Collection, and ultimately increase overall ring sales.

PARTNERSHIP

The Cleveland Cavaliers partnered with a few forward-looking and innovative companies for this activation. Baron Rings, the official Championship Ring manufacturer provided the Cavs with the object file and map textures of the ring. YinzCam, a software and mobile app company, then took the file and turned it into a functional platform. The silicone bands that were given away to the fans were courtesy of Nike and the PDF paper rings were branded with the famous Nike swoosh. Extensive research was done through collaboration, the idea was brought to life.

RESULTS

During Opening Night, the original silicone Championship ring activation resulted in 5,224 platform launches, with 4,207 unique users in stadium. Two weeks later when the printable PDF version of the ring was released on their website, platform launches increased by over 30,000 and quadrupled in unique users. However, platform launches were not the only thing that improved once the activation was available to all fans around the world. 78 of the 639 click-throughs to the Team Shop featuring the rings came from people viewing the link from someone else’s twitter share. 44 of the 639 clicks led to a Championship Jewelry Collection conversion accounting for 6.23% of the overall Jewelry Collection revenue. All in all, expanding the activation outside of the stadium walls had a positive impact on achieving their goal of increasing ring sales.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Cavaliers strive to be at the forefront of technology and blaze the trail for other organizations. Mike Conley, the VP of Digital, stated, “We have a very skilled and well-rounded team who are both tech-savvy and creative. We strive to think differently and stretch the spectrum of activation.” The Cavs are very excited about the opportunities augmented reality has to offer and will continue to think creatively and provide their fans with enhanced experiences.

CONTACT

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